Mark Thompson (Director-General of the BBC) - Information, Featured Articles, London's Movers & Shakers

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Mark Thompson (Director-General of the BBC)

Mark Thompson was appointed Director-General of the BBC on 21 May 2004, after being Chief Executive of Channel 4 since December 2001.

He took up his appointment on 22 June 2004.

He had previously worked at the BBC for more than 20 years, becoming Director of Television in April 2000, responsible for the management and running of all BBC network television channels.

Mark Thompson was previously Director of National and Regional Broadcasting, a post he had held since January 1999.

In this role he had overall responsibility for all broadcasting activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and for local and regional broadcasting in England.

He was born in London on 31 July 1957 and was educated at Stonyhurst College and Merton College, Oxford.

He joined the BBC in 1979 as a production trainee, helped launch Watchdog in 1981 and Breakfast Time in 1983 and he also worked on London Plus before becoming an output editor on Newsnight in 1985.

He was appointed Editor of the Nine O'Clock News in 1988 and Editor of Panorama in 1990.

Mark Thompson became Head of Features in 1992 and Head of Factual Programmes in 1994, playing a key role in the successful performance of BBC ONE and BBC TWO and introducing series such as Animal Hospital, Modern Times, The House and Ready Steady Cook.

As Controller of BBC TWO from 1996 to 1998 he saw the channel retain its share of viewing at a time of increased competition, rising from 11.2% in 1995 to 11.6% in both 1996 and 1997 and retaining a highly competitive 11.3% share in 1998.

During this period BBC TWO won acclaim for its drama (Our Mutual Friend, The Cops, Amongst Women, Shooting the Past), its entertainment and comedy (I'm Alan Partridge, The Fast Show, The Royle Family, Big Train), and its factual, arts and leisure programmes (The Nazis - A Warning from History, Storyville, Naked, Back to the Floor, and Ground Force).

As Director of National and Regional Broadcasting he saw the BBC's regional television audiences dramatically increase their lead over other providers and saw local radio audiences rise.

He has also expanded the BBC's local and regional services across London and the South East and oversaw the introduction of new programmes in response to devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mark Thompson was a member of the BBC's Charter Review Task Force on Entertainment in 1991; the Programme Strategy Review team, led by Alan Yentob and Liz Forgan, in 1993; and he chaired the Edinburgh International Television Festival in 1996.